The present invention relates to systems for air cooling fluids used in an industrial process in a plant and for providing heated, make up air to that plant.
There are many plants that perform industrial operations in which a fluid, oil for example, is utilized for quenching, i.e. heat treatment; at the same time the plant may very well be utilizing a significant amount of oxygen in the plant for combustion purposes. In such facilities the quenching fluid may be reused but first must be cooled to the selected temperature for the quenching process. At the same time make up air must be provided to replace the oxygen used in combustion. Even if the oxygen used in combustion were minimal, fresh air would be desirable to replenish the stale air in the plant. Where the plant is located in a region which has a relatively cold climate, the make up air introduced into the plant must be heated. The present invention provides apparatus for air cooling the fluid which has been heated through processing and at the same time utilizing the air, the temperature of which has now been raised, as a source of heated, make up air for the plant. In the present invention the temperature of the make up air is raised within a desired temperature range.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus for providing heated make up air to a plant.
It is another object to provide novel apparatus for air cooling a fluid used in a plant in an industrial process and utilizing the now heated air as a make up air for the plant.
It is another object to provide novel apparatus of the above described type in which the apparatus can be controlled or modulated to provide heated make up air within a desired temperature range while cooling the liquid to a preselected temperature.